Jefferson Siegel/New York Daily News
Cecily McMillan, a 25 year old Occupy Wall Street activist who last week was sentenced to a 90-day stay at Rikers for assaulting a police officer on St. Patrick’s Day in 2012, had a court appearance today for her Dec. 7th, 2013 arrest where she is being brought on charges that she interfered with a police investigation of two people who jumped a turnstile at the Union Sq. Station.
This misdemeanor case was a lynchpin of ADA Erin Choi’s case against McMillan because she is also being accused of interfering with a police investigation and then having an anxiety attack. McMillan stated in this Dec. 7th case that she was forced by the officer to go to Bellevue Hospital after taking her glasses away (she is practically blind without glasses/contacts) and also had problems breathing due to the tightness of her dress. McMillan also stated that when the officer who brought up her file and saw that she had an open felony case, he stated to her, “ADA Choi is going to have a field day with this”. The police officer stated that she was cursing at them at prevented them from making an arrest. The two people who actually jumped the turnstile were never arrested or processed.
McMillan was clothed in her white dress and tan coat that she wore for her verdict and her hair in a ponytail. She looked visibly shaken and was crying when she came into Room 206 at the NY State Criminal Courthouse at 100 Centre St. After the hearing, I spoke to Martin Stolar, her counsel and asked him why she was crying. “She was upset about the conditions in Rikers, not having proper clothing, and not receiving her ADHD medicine”, Stolar said.
The new ADA on this case, Leah Sackstein took over for ADA Choi who just gave birth and is on maternity leave. Sackstein was not ready to try the case due to the police officer that was going to testify received an injury while on duty. ADA Sackstein offered McMillan community service, no extra time in jail and anger management classes. McMillan rejected that plea bargain. The next court date for this will be Thursday, July 17th. By this time, McMillan will more than likely be out of Rikers by July 3rd on good behavior.
Update: Lucy Parks got off the phone with Cecily. She let Lucy know why she was so upset in court. Cecily was woken up at 4:30am. Cecily or her lawyer had no idea that she was being sent over to 100 Centre St. today. The corrections officer placed the pajamas that she was sleeping in over her dress. Cecily stated that she is proud of who she is and to march her into court in pajamas is disrespectful and demeaning. The officers also handcuffed Cecily to two other people that had some mental issues , so she was being roughed up while being brought up from the tombs. “The cuffs were incredibly tight”, she said.
Cecily is getting her ADHD medication now, but she is only getting it every other day. It is hard for her be balanced. She feels like this is an attempt to keep her unstable in jail.
In Interview (Link Below) From Prison McMillan Promises Greater Activism In The Future